Case Analysis: Pathan Hussain Basha, Assignments of Criminology

Download Case Analysis: Pathan Hussain Basha and more Assignments Criminology in PDF only on Docsity! NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL IIIrd Semester CASE ANALYSIS LAW OF CRIMES - I “PATHAN HUSSAIN BASHA V. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH (AIR 2012 SC 3205)” TABLE OF CONTENTS ______________________________________________________________________________ a comprehensive study and to pen this research project. Without her constant guidance, the completion of this project work would have been a difficult task. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE ______________________________________________________________________________ Name of the Case The name of the case is Pathan Hussain Basha v. State of Andhra Pradesh, Criminal Appeal No. 1706 and 1712 of 2009. Citation The equivalent citation of the case is A.I.R. 2012 SC 3205. Brief Context the Case The four paged judgment concerns the subject matter of cruelty faced by a woman leading to dowry death. In the present case, after the deceased’s father could not give the demanded dowry by the husband his parents, the deceased was subjected to cruelty and ill-treatment in her marital house. With the continuance of so, the deceased subjected herself to suicide. The same was communicated to her father by one of the witnesses in the case. The father of the deceased filed a report, consequent to which, a case was initiated against the husband of the deceased and his parents. While his father was acquitted because he could not be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, the mother of the husband and the husband himself were subjected to a rigorous imprisonment pursuant to Section 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The History of the Case: Arrival to the Supreme Court After the parents of the deceased lodged a complaint against the husband and parents in law of the deceased under Section 304B and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter, IPC), investigation was conducted. During the aforementioned, the body was sent to retrieve a post- mortem report and it was discovered that the death of the deceased took place due to asphyxiation, which took place as the deceased was hung. Consequently, all the three accused persons were arrested and faced trial. As they faced trial, they were convicted by the Munsif Magistrate at Guntur pursuant to Section 498A and 304B of the Indian Penal Code. Consequently, they faced trial at the Court of Sessions at Guntur and were found to be guilty of offence. They were redirected to pay a fine of Rs. 1000 each and an imprisonment for three years for an offense pursuant to Section 498-A of the IPC. Furthermore, a concurrent imprisonment for life was sentenced pursuant to Section 304-B of the IPC. The aforementioned judgment was challenged in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh (in Telangana), which convicted two of the accused and granted an acquittal to one, that is, Pathan Kadar Bhasha. The sentence awarded was given a confirmatory status, which consequently gave rise to the appeal in discussion in the Supreme Court of India. RELEVANT DETAILS OF THE CASE ______________________________________________________________________________ Size of the Bench The size of the bench is Division Bench, comprising of two judges. Coram The presiding Coram in this case comprises of Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla. Issues Raised A. Was the prosecution successful in their appeal to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt? B. Are all the accused in the case guilty or is any of them to be set aside and be acquitted? C. Is there a requirement to turnaround any judgment passed by the lower courts? Nature of the Issues Raised Nature of the issues raised is a question fact and not a question of law. ARGUMENTS PRESENTED BEFORE THE COURT ______________________________________________________________________________ There were no arguments presented before the Supreme Court, per se, and the Court majorly relied on the text of the judgment of the High Court and the Trial Court at Guntur. Pursuant to the judgment put forth in the case of Pathan Hussain Basha & Others v. The State rep. by Public Prosecutor High Court of A.P,1 the contentions laid down by both the parties were factual in nature and were based on witness evidence. Arguments presented by the Appellants A. The Appellants in this case, who are the accused, took a position in the High Court that after the marriage was completed between the accused husband and the deceased, there was a demand by the latter for a separate residence and it was pleaded that no dowry was demanded whatsoever by the accused. B. The learned counsel supported their contention with the help of the case of Paidimarri Shanker and Others v. State of A.P.,2 wherein a division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court noted that when the evidence pertaining to the dowry is fabricated and released after the death of the bride and there is no mention of the same former to the death, the case would not necessarily fall into the offenses stated under Section 498-A and 304-B of the IPC. C. On the same grounds, the appellants submitted that there is no material whatsoever to show that the demand that was made prior to the death of the deceased is a doubt in contention. The appellants went on to describe the phrase “soon before death” as was analyzed in the case of Hira Lal and Ors v. State3 wherein the phrase was used to imply that the expression “soon before” should imply that the time phrase between the demand made pursuant to the dowry and the death of the deceased should not be significant. There must, in all cases, exist a proximal and live link between the effect made by the demand of the dowry and the consequent death in question. Similarly, in the present case, there is a significant amount of time adduced and the demand in any case would not be responsible for the death of the bride. 1 Pathan Hussain Basha & Others v. The State rep. by Public Prosecutor High Court of A.P, LQ 2006 HC 7016 2 Paidimarri Shanker and Others v. State of A.P., 2004(1) ALT(Cri) 201. 3 Hira Lal and Ors v. State (Govt. of NCT) Delhi, A.I.R. 2003 SC 2865. Arguments presented by the Respondents A. The respondents in this case, in order to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, examined the witnesses and the saree of the deceased. By inviting the family members of the deceased as witnesses, it was noted by the respondents that there was a communication between the deceased and her family that there was indeed harassment and ill-treatment being conducted against her in her marital home. B. The Respondents examined a witness for the purpose of evidence, wherein the neighbour of the accused was examined. It was stated that the marriage took a happy start for the accused and the deceased, but however after a certain point of time, the quarrels of the both could be heard in the neighbourhood. However, it was also stated that by the time the death of the deceased took place, there were no quarrels at that point of time. C. In any case, all the material facts stated in the case were iterated by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents to draw the evidence that the suicide committed was due to harassment in her own house. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT ______________________________________________________________________________ Judgment in Personam The court accepted the appeals raised by the appellants partially as the court reduced the sentence from a life imprisonment to a rigorous imprisonment for a time period of ten years. Ashok Kumar v. State of Haryana 4 (i) Facts and Relevant Portion of the Judgment Similar to the present case under analysis, in the case of Ashok Kumar v. State of Haryana, the father of the deceased could not give the demanded dowry to the marital home of his daughter, as a consequence of which, the deceased was subjected to harassment and ill treatment by her parents in law as well as her husband. The same was communicated by the deceased to her father but however, the demanded dowry could still not be given. The mother and the brother of the deceased’s husband were alleged to burn the bride with kerosene. The aforesaid information was not communicated to the father of the deceased by anyone in the marital home of the deceased. While the accused was sentenced to a rigorous punishment of 7 years, the court went on to examine terms such as “soon before her death” and “in connection with, any demand for dowry”. (ii) Relevance to the present case In the present judgment, the court went on to analyze whether the suicide occurred due to the harassment and ill treatment by the deceased’s marital parents and husband. Thus, in order to examine whether the harassment (if occurred) was proximally connected to the suicide with respect to the usage of the phrase, “in connection with any demand for dowry” and whether is it legal compatible to hold the accused as guilty with respect to the time frame of the harassment and the death, as the harassment (varying with circumstances of each case), must be connected and be done “soon before her death”. The court supported the proposition lead in the aforementioned case by stating a similar judgment in the case of Tarsem Singh v. State of Punjab5 wherein it was noted that there must exist a nexus between the death of the deceased as well as the dowry based cruelty inflicted on the individual. Ran Singh v. State of Haryana 6 (i) Facts and Relevant Portion of the Judgment In the given case, the bride was harassed and ill-treated because of non-payment of dowry and the people who were accused were relatives-in-law of the bride. The case construed upon against whom the proceedings can be initiated based on the personal relationship of the bride with the 4 Ashok Kumar v. State of Haryana, A.I.R. 2010 SC 2839. 5 Tarsem Singh v. State of Punjab, A.I.R. 2009 SC 1454. 6 Ran Singh v. State of Haryana, A.I.R. 2008, SC 1294. relatives-in-law. The court, in this case realized whether the gifts that were granted during the marriage accounted to dowry or not. The court noted that customary gifts given during the marriage, or even the birth of a child, are gifts that everyone in the society gives regardless of their obligations and are customary gifts given in the society. These do not account to dowry. (ii) Relevance to the present case In the present case, the question arose whether the gifts given by the parents of the deceased accounted to dowry or not. However, contrary to the aforementioned case, the gifts were demanded by the family and were not given on a voluntary and customary basis and the gifts therefore do not amount to dowry. Madhu Sadan Malhotra v. Kishore Chand Bhandari 7 (i) Facts and Relevant Portion of the Judgment In this case, ornaments and articles were given from the bride’s family to her family in law. These included jewelries and other such articles. After a certain point of time, disputes between the couples arose and consequently, the bride was forced out of her marital house. After such incident, the wife demanded the ornaments and articles back from her family in law and upon such request, there was a denial of the aforesaid by the matrimonial house. Based on this, the maternal family of the bride filed a case against the matrimonial home of the aggrieved. In the given case, a contention arose as to what constituted as dowry. While the apex found the accused guilty contrary to the judgment of the High Court, in the given case, the court concluded with the analysis that articles such as refrigerators, furniture as well as electric appliances to the family of the bride accounts to dowry. Similar grounds were ascertained by the court in State of A.P. v. Raj Gopal Asawa,8 wherein it was noted that even the subsequent demands raised after the marriage account to dowry. (ii) Relevance to the present case In the current case, the questions arose whether the ornaments and the articles gifted to the marital family of the deceased accounted to dowry or not. The Court ruled its finding in pursuance the findings of the aforementioned case and noted that the demands fulfilled at the 7 Madhu Sudan Malhotra v. Kishore Chand Bhandari, A.I.R. 1988 SCC 424. 8 State of Andhra Pradesh v. Raj Gopal Asawa, A.I.R. 2004 SC 1933. time of the marriage and also, the demands raised subsequent to the completion of marriage accounted to dowry. Yashoda and ors v. State of Madhya Pradesh 9 (i) Facts and Relevant Portion of the Judgment In this case, the deceased got married to the accused (whose case was transferred to the juvenile court as he was found to be a juvenile). The death of the deceased in this particular case was not from natural circumstances but however, and with that, eight other relatives and the villagers were charged under the IPC for the death of the deceased. The appellants were found guilty by the Sessions Judge in Morena and the High Court dismissed their appeal. With the precluding circumstances, they approached the Supreme Court. The case delved into the considerable time period of the marriage and the death of the deceased as the incident occurred four years after the marriage was completed. The court noted that the time may vary with the facts of the case and there must be a link between the dowry and the harassment suffered. (ii) Relevance to the present case In the present case, there was a considerable period of time between the date of the marriage and the death of the deceased, which exceeded more than a year. The Court drew its analogy from the aforementioned case that the time of the death varies with the facts of the case and established that there was indeed a time bound nexus between the death and the harassment suffered, holding the appellant guilty of the offense. STATUTORY PROVISIONS CITED ______________________________________________________________________________ Article 304B, Indian Penal Code Pursuant to Article 304B of the Indian Penal Code, “(1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or 9 Yashoda and ors v. State of Madhya Pradesh, A.I.R. 2005 SC 1411. The book referred again to several case laws for the purpose of describing section 304B, and also used concepts such as the proximate test and the explanation of the phrase 'soon before her death'. With the use of the fundamental ingredients of the section, the book has substantially explained the section. It gives a basic definition and comprehension of the crime of cruelty in regard to section 498A; the book provides descriptions of who may be a relative and is a marriage bond required for the purpose of taking advantage of the remedies under this clause. It also lists the recommendations that were made by the law commission, in a brief manner. Criminal Law by PSA Pillai 17 With a comprehensive review of all the types of crimes assimilated in the Statute, this book explored all facets of criminal law extensively. On the one side, this book retains the essence of the decades-old tradition of providing outstanding illustrative insights to all those engaged in the field of criminal law and on the other hand, covers seminal judgments that revolve around evolving developments in the region, in addition to the reforms proposed by the Law Commission and other bodies. In this book, in an academic context, the crimes are presented with legal meanings that illustrate the interrelationship between the academic framework and the legislative framework. This book has substantially explained Section 304B by not only providing brief informative information of the aforementioned section but has also analyzed in depth the intricacies of the same and the interpretation of the section that the court has sought over the years. It is evident that with the evolution of time, the Court has recognized the fact that dowry death should indeed be taken seriously and has put forth the idea of justice in its recent judgments. For Section 498A of the IPC, the book has explained this section in detail by first are foremost, explaining what cruelty means and how it can be equated to dowry deaths. The interpretative analysis that can be sought from the book is that when the court lacks evidence beyond reasonable doubt, the court has in times assumed cruelty by the virtue of deeming fiction and furthermore, strikes a balance between the golden rule of “innocent and until proven guilty” and 17 PSA Pillai, Criminal Law, (13th ed., 2017) the doctrine of “deeming fiction”. The book has also explained the difference between Section 498A and 304B in terms of its application and statutory provision. THEORIES AND DOCTRINES ANALYZED: DEEMING FICTION ______________________________________________________________________________ While the presumption of the victim's innocence remains an age-old concept enshrined in common law, and often retained in Indian law, jurists have created a rebuttal to the presumption of innocence in which at first instance, an accused party can be deemed guilty, and the duty of evidence is on the defence to show his innocence or to pose questions regarding his guilt. It is possible to describe a reverse onus clause as one that transfers the burden of proof on the defendant after the prosecutor proves the presence of a fundamental truth that contributes to the burden shift. There are some kinds of sins along with the presence of the golden law. The accused is presumed guilty in such cases, prima facie, and the burden of proof is transferred to the accused in order to adduce evidence of his innocence or to raise fair questions about his guilt.18 In India, in two cases, the presumption of innocence is rebutted: firstly, when the burden of proof is overturned by express legislative provision, and secondly, when the accused appeals against a lower court judgment in which his presumption is one of guilt and not innocence. In our country, the most famous instance of a reverse onus clause is Dowry Death.19 In cases of dowry death, instead of the normal presumption of innocence, the guilty mental state of the accused is assumed, placing a presumption of guilt. This rebuttal of the presumption in criminal law also causes legal questions and disputes. The court, however took a contrary position with respect to the aforementioned doctrine. The Court provided that an accused cannot be punished until proven guilty and upheld the golden rule. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS ______________________________________________________________________________ Despite the egalitarian vision of women expressed in the Indian Constitution, the low status of women sanctioned by social customs exists. India's Constitution guarantees equality for all genders. However when dowry deaths increased from around 19 per day in 2001 to 21 per day in 2016, a separate parallel remains. Although these numbers are alarming, there is a great deal of heterogeneity across regions and over time in the occurrence of "dowry deaths." It is also worrying that, considering the greater stringency of anti-dowry laws, the increase in dowry deaths is unabated. In 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act made a crime punishable by incarceration and fine or without the above give and take of dowry, its protection or the desire for it. When dowries 18 Section 4, Indian Evidence Act 1872. 19 Section 304B, Indian Penal Code 1860.